Pitchfork, the simultaneously celebrated and maligned music reviews site that continues to serve as an musical divining rod for the bet-you-haven't-heard-of-it set, posted a comprehensive view of San Francisco's New Garage Rock this morning. Thankfully, the city isn't getting one of the site's notoriously prickly 1-10 reviews, but today's piece provides a detailed history of San Francisco's current dominant music scene. more ›

First off, we're sorry we missed last week's music offerings - Wallpaper, Eric Hutchinson and The Trucks - but we're back. A lot has happened in just one week. First off, New Kids on the Block debuted their newest single, "Summertime" with the announcement there's going to be a tour and new album. Frankly, from what we've heard, it's not that bad. Actually it's kinda good in a pop-ish, upbeat "summer" hit kind-of-way. Madonna also announced that she will be bringing her "Sticky and Sweet" tour to Oakland on November 1st. You better make sure you get your tickets fast! more ›

We admit having never seen that word before: sackbut. It sounds full of promise, definitely. Turns out it's a medieval trombone, and it will be heard this coming weekend at a few choice concerts. more ›

Shit. It's Valentine's Day this Thursday and by the looks of it most of you have already planned your perfect date. Three shows are already completely sold-out: The Kills at Rickshaw Stop, Slightly Stoopid at The Independent and Common at Mezzanine. While there are still several shows you can chance Thursday night, it might be wise to stay home and wait till the weekend to take your crush out. We are. more ›

It's that time again. (We can't believe it's already Monday.) As usual, there is great music going on every night of the week so make sure you take the jump to see our daily recommendations. We've been counting down the days to see Sara Bareilles since we heard about this tour back in December. It's here. Finally. Bareilles will be opening for James Blunt in the VH1's "You Oughta Know" tour. There's no way you haven't heard of James Blunt - his single, "You're Beautiful" was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. This was the first time a Brit had been in the #1 spot since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" in 1997. Clearly, everyone knows who James Blunt is. The real question is: Do you know who Sara Bareilles is? We've been spouting praise about this singer/songwriter since we saw her open for Aqualung almost a year ago. We knew she would be big; we just had a feeling. Now with "Love Song" on regular airplay on radio stations nationwide there's a reason she's opening for Blunt in the "You Oughta Know" tour. With high-powered vocals, Bareilles can out-sing most, if not all, of the music industries' pop stars. Not only do we love her rich yet effortless voice, but her clever music is indeed what pop music needs right now. We would never miss her concert and you shouldn't either. more ›

It looks like several of you took our advice and joined us at the Kate Nash concert Saturday night. With lines almost around the corner, we thought, "Great, we'll be lucky to get a spot close enough to even see the stage." Looks were deceiving though - we entered and secured a spot on the second row (or so we thought). more ›

Back in December, The Lovemakers, a glam-rock outfit from Oakland, decided to stay put and forego their national tour to record their next full-length album entitled "Love is Dead." (For a band called "The Lovemakers," that's quite a title!) According to their blog, they've also decided to "be a 3-piece [band] again for the next while live. Scott, Lisa and Michael Urbano on drums. Back to basics. Very cool. Very fun." What we didn't realize, is the fact they are trying out their new stuff just for us at their Thursday night residency at Cafe du Nord for the entire month of January. Last week they played with Panda and Maldroid, while this week it's N. Lannon and Astra Heights. You might want to wait for later in the month when they play with Elephone and The Frail (who we just instantly fell in love with) on January 24th and Audrye Sessions and Poor Bailey on January 31st. Better yet, why don't you go to all three shows and support some awesome local music? With great bands playing with The Lovemakers each week, we figure you won't be disappointed. Their reputation is based on their "solid and legendary bawdy, flawless and theatrical live performance." We hope they hold up to that awesome reputation. more ›

This week we want to focus on the local music scene even though it seems that Portland natives' Blitzen Trapper and Stephen Malkmus have captured San Franciscan's hearts - Wednesday's show is sold out. (There aren't even any tickets available on Craigslist!) more ›

We had twenty but it's down to the last five. Live 105, a big supporter of local music scene (see popscene) is at it again. Each December, Live 105 hosts the "Not So Silent Night" event which brings a host of great bands - this year it's Modest Mouse, Jimmy Eat World, Angels & Airwaves, Spoon and Paramore - to San Francisco. (Seems like a great line-up to us.) To make it even more... more ›

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Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take her medicine and offered their own suggestions to how the city should capitalize on the local music scene. And everyone thinks that a suggested tax on bottled water is a great idea. more ›

Corporate radio still sucks! Strike a blow for independent community airwaves and stop by Pirate Cat Radio 87.9 FM's benefit concert this Friday at the Elbo Room. The beloved low-power radio station/Internet radio streamer's hoping to use the money raised tonight to pay for their server, upgrade their transmitter, and generally keep bringing you local music and local talk! more ›

SFist interviews Jason Quever of local band the Papercuts more ›

SFist interviews Andrew Revelli, founder of Upper Playground more ›

Next up for the annual SFist holiday gift guide is a poster. A nice poster. Two posters, even. What's the deal with the posters? Well, one is of a Mates of State show and one for The Walkmen. Both were designed by the Small Stakes Jason Munn and if you still need some info, check out the SFist interview with the Small Stake's Jason Munn. more ›

It's been a few months since we raved about Ratatat and gave away their CD, so we figure it's time again to extol their greatness. Like we said last time, RATATAT's music is so melodic, varied and compelling that it makes vocals and lyrics seem superfluous. The Brooklyn duo expertly mixes snakey synth lines with sneering guitar, cello, sleigh bells and samples like the appropriately primal roar in "Wildcat". File under: Things That Make You Go "ROWR!" more ›

This week we give thanks for the amazing music coming out of the bay area, and the best venues in the nation to see it in. Listen up to the local music you can hear this week, and let's show our appreciation to these hardworking musicians by heading out to catch some shows. more ›

We had a great week of music last week, starting on Thursday night when Live 105's Madden invited us to join him on air. Along with SFists MattyMatt and Jon we talked for a half hour about local music, Muni and of course Gavin's hair. Madden was a friendly and gracious host and we thank him for inviting us! On Monday night Cursive packed The Fillmore for a straightforward set of songs from their new record and a few older tracks. We could see the crowd in the front singing, screaming and dancing right along for the entire set, so we were a little surprised when the band didn't return for an encore. But we won't complain too much, it just leaves more time to hang out after the show. Tuesday night brought the Twilight Singers back to Great American for another soulful, sultry set. more ›

We're going multimedia tonight and sending our mellifluous and not-so mellifluous voices over the airwaves as Madden at Live 105 has graciously asked us to appear on his local music hour around 8 tonight. more ›

More hijinks at the Lusty Lady, and this time, not union-related! A Cal football player has been suspended from the team after he got in a fight with a bouncer at the famed feminist strip club. Last weekend, the player allegedly entered into a video booth while his friend (whom the player called his "agent," even though the player's not currently represented) demanded they be given two prostitutes. When they were denied, Lusty Lady reps say the player became violent and called the bouncer a racially-derogatory name as well as a homophobic one. (We know, we're being so coy.) Some of the fight was caught on a security camera. The Berkeley athletic department is investigating, but the football player says, "[The bouncer] tried to portray me as someone who’s racist, I'm not. Tried to portray me as someone who’s egotistical, I'm not." more ›

As we sat down to write this week's Best of the -ists post, a car blaring "21 Questions'" passed by our house. And that started us thinking about how some of the best -ist posts out there have at their hearts questions, some of which are answered, and some of which are left open. Check out the Best of the -ists from this week, and see if you agree. more ›

Special chock-full-of-mp3s-from-great-local-bands edition! more ›

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. The theme of the Local News section is "Editor's note: Alix Rosenthal [District 8 candidate] is the domestic partner of Guardian city editor Steven T. Jones. Jones did not participate in the assigning, writing, or editing of this story," as the Guardian weighs in on both the Castro Halloween fight and an update on the Pendulum. Also, Chris Daly can't get any documents under the sunshine laws either. Why didn't they interview Alix Rosenthal on that issue too? Steven Jones could have just taken the week off! A loaded term (starts with a p, is a synonym for cat) is used to describe the local music scene in an article about loud all-female band 16 Bitch Pile-Up. Cover article: horror movie The Descent. And SFist Eve's horoscope: don't end up like those Girls Gone Wild. more ›

We -ists are an eclectic bunch, but there's a couple of things we all love: famous people, social causes, and wacky local facts. Join us as we starf**k, get virtuous, and learn across the -ist network! more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 2/2 - 2/8. more ›

Someone, please, adopt this dog! Just don't name him October. Did you catch some free theater this Thursday? Some local music? Or Bay Blogger MJ's event at Space180? Give Dubya the ol' na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye? Maybe you just stayed in and were inspired to cook like Julie and Julia. Well, you won't be checking out the live-action Buffy musical episode, anyways -- thanks, Fox. Best to drink those troubles away. In soberer news: we're still following the Pamela Vitale and Lashuan Harris cases. RIP, Bill King. RIP, Bay Area football season? And it was 16 years ago that SFist Rain's eagerly-anticipated Bay Bridge World Series Game 3 got rudely interrupted. And Muni? Still blows. more ›

The Bay Area should be proud of at least two high profile record releases from local artists this week. Oakland's own The Lovemakers drop their major label debut Times of Romance on Interscope Records, and San Francisco's John Vanderslice keeps it real by releasing his latest, Pixel Revolt, on indie stalwart Barsuk Records. more ›

Last week's winner, the SF Weekly. What, no Apologist this week? We have a confession to make -- we've been writing an "Are you an Apologist for SFist?" column in our head for ages! ("Do you think she really reads the Weeklies every week? a) With the number of comments they get, they should rename it "WHO reads We Read The Weeklies." b) Sure -- why else would you brag about staying informed about the latest public power issues? c) Hey, at least when she's writing that, she's not putting up those asinine Animal Reports."). Harmon Leon goes to Amber Frey's Learning Annex class. Cover article: anti-Muslim discrimination in local schools. OK Then interviews local music blogger Matt Ness. And Liz Phair, self-hating. TheGuardian: Tim Redmond on (you guessed it) public power! A.C. Thompson: did you know parolees are required to live in the county where they got arrested when they get out? Why? Annalee Newitz cracks open some fantasy novels. Cover: SFist Interview alum Steve Jones on his Burning Man project with the Flaming Lotus Girls. The sex columnist on cutting off that strip that holds your tongue in (the frenulum). And Sonic Reducer goes to Ozzfest. After the jump, the EBX and the pick of the week. (Apologist answer d: "I picked something this week; wanna see?")Last week's winner, the SF Weekly. What, no Apologist this week? We have a confession to make -- we've been writing an "Are you an Apologist for SFist?" column in our head for ages! ("Do you think she really reads the Weeklies every week? a) With the number of comments they get, they should rename it "WHO reads We Read The Weeklies." b) Sure -- why else would you brag about staying informed about the latest public power issues? c) Hey, at least when she's writing that, she's not putting up those asinine Animal Reports."). Harmon Leon goes to Amber Frey's Learning Annex class. Cover article: anti-Muslim discrimination in local schools. OK Then interviews local music blogger Matt Ness. And Liz Phair, self-hating. TheGuardian: Tim Redmond on (you guessed it) public power! A.C. Thompson: did you know parolees are required to live in the county where they got arrested when they get out? Why? Annalee Newitz cracks open some fantasy novels. Cover: SFist Interview alum Steve Jones on his Burning Man project with the Flaming Lotus Girls. The sex columnist on cutting off that strip that holds your tongue in (the frenulum). And Sonic Reducer goes to Ozzfest. After the jump, the EBX and the pick of the week. (Apologist answer d: "I picked something this week; wanna see?") more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 7/21-7/27. more ›